Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha filed his nomination papers for the Town Bardowali assembly segment on Monday, only hours before the deadline for filing papers for the February 16 assembly elections.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh accompanied Saha. Sambit Patra, the northeast coordinator of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was also present.

“Today filed nomination as a BJP candidate from Town Bordowali seat in presence of Hon Assam CM Shri Himanta Biswa Sarma Ji, Hon Manipur CM N. Biren Singh Ji & Dr. Sambit Patra ji. Thousands of Karyakartas accompanied me before filing the nomination. I am sure that BJP will secure a spectacular win,” Saha said in a post on Twitter.

The BJP has run candidates for 55 of the 60 assembly seats, leaving the remaining five for its coalition partner, the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT).

Saha, who is leading the coalition’s drive to reclaim power for the second time, took over as chief minister in May of last year, succeeding Biplab Kumar Deb. He first won the Town Bardowali seat in a by-election last June, defeating Congress candidate Asish Kumar Saha.

The by-election in June 2022 was called when Asish Kumar Saha, who won the seat on a BJP ticket in 2018, left the party and ran for re-election on a Congress ticket.